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Southeast Missouri topped Jacksonville State 10-7 in the first game of the day to force a winner-take-all Championship Game where they bested the Gamecocks 14-8 to claim its third OVC Tournament Championship and first since 2002.
This season marks the 38th time the event has been held and the seventh year in a row it has been held at The Ballpark at Jackson (formerly Pringles Park) in Jackson, Tennessee. The venue is home of the Jackson Generals, the AA-affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
The entire tournament is being streamed live and free of charge on the OVC Digital Network. The games are available in HD and available on any computer, tablet or smart phone, as well as Roku streaming devices. The games will air live and are immediately available on-demand.
Game 10: #1 Southeast Missouri 10, #2 Jacksonville State 7
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Game 11: #1 Southeast Missouri 14, #2 Jacksonville State 8
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#1 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 14, #2 JACKSONVILLE STATE 8
JACKSON, Tenn. - Garrett Gandolfo doubled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and Southeast Missouri tacked on four insurance runs in the seventh to as they topped Jacksonville State 14-8 to claim the 2016 OVC Baseball Championship.
It is the third overall title for Southeast Missouri (39-19) and first since the 2002 season. The 39 wins are the most in a single season in school history.
After topping the Gamecocks 10-7 earlier in the day, Southeast Missouri wasted no time scoring four runs in the bottom of the first in the deciding game. But JSU (34-24) battled back with seven runs over the next two innings to take back the lead. The game was tied at eight in the sixth before Gandolfo's RBI.
OVC Pitcher of the Year Joey Lucchesi, who had a complete game shutout in the first Redhawks game of the tournament, entered the game in the seventh inning and allowed just one hit over the final three frames in being named OVC Tournament MVP. In 12 innings during the tournament he allowed just eight hits and no runs while striking out seven and picking up a win and a save.
Gandolfo finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI while Hunter Leeper also drove in three runs; both were named to the All-Tournament Team along with Chris Osborne, Dan Holst and Scott Mitchell.
Jacksonville State was led by Gavin Golsan who drove in a trio of runs.
The 22 combined runs were the most in an OVC Championship Game since 2003 when Murray State and Eastern Kentucky combined to score 23 runs.
2016 OVC Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
Jared Carkuff, Austin Peay
Garrett Copeland, Austin Peay
Chas Hadden, Belmont
Dylan King, Belmont
Clayton Daniel, Jacksonville State
Tyler Gamble, Jacksonville State
Taylor Hawthorne, Jacksonville State
Garrett Gandolfo, Southeast Missouri
Hunter Leeper, Southeast Missouri
Dan Holst, Southeast Missouri
Chris Osborne, Southeast Missouri
Scott Mitchell, Southeast Missouri
Joey Lucchesi, Southeast Missouri
(MVP)
#1 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10, #2 JACKSONVILLE STATE 7
JACKSON, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri exploded for five runs in the fourth inning and survived a late Jacksonville State rally to top the Gamecocks 10-7 and force a winner-take-all Championship Game.
In the process Southeast Missouri (38-19) set a new program record for wins in a season.
Jacksonville State (34-23) had topped Southeast in the Winners Bracket Final on Saturday before the Redhawks topped Austin Peay to move back into the Championship Round.
Southeast struck for a run in the first and two more in the third before the five-run fourth that pushed their leads to 8-1. But JSU responded with a two-run triple by A.J. Reynolds in the sixth and a Gavin Golsan sac fly to trim the margin to 8-4.
In the bottom of the ninth Jacksonville State plated two runs and had the bases loaded before Andy Pennington came on in relief to end the threat and pick up his second save of the season.
Jacob Lawrence (4-1) was the winning pitcher after allowing four runs over 5.1 innings of work. Derek Adams (3-4) took the loss after givign up six runs in 3.2 innings.